Drilling rate recorder



SEARCH POUM Aug 28, 1951 R. R. cRooKsToN l-:TAL 2,565,951

DRILLING RATE RECORDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 25, 1948 BRAKE conuunron anni soLeuom CLUTCH COMIIUTATOR CLUTCH SOLENOID MOTOR AUTOSYNCHRONOUS FIG..

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9&5@ IN VEN TOR-S R. R. CROOKSTON ETAL DRILLING RATE RECORDER Aug. 28, 1951 Filed Feb. 25, 1948 l 91 III IIIH IHHII IHHI FII G. 4.

Patented Aug. 28, 1951 will UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DRILLING RATE RECORDER Application February 25, 1948, Serial No. 10,668 t claims.' (ci. 346-39) This invention relates to an improved meter for determining and indicating substantially instantaneously the rate of progress of any device involving linear motion and is particularly applicable to the determination of drilling rates during the drilling of a well in the earth. It will be described particularly with reference to the drilling of deep Wells for petroleum, in conjunction with the conventional drilling equipment used in this art.

The invention may also be used to provide a continuous record of the drilling rate observed in drilling the well, the record being made either as drilling rate versus elapsed time or drilling rate versus drilling depth, or both.

Heretofore no meters have been available to indicate drilling rates directly and contemporaneously with the drilling operation. Considerable elapsed time and additional calculations have been necessary to determine the rate of progress of the drilling bit through the earth. An object of the present invention is to provide a drilling rate meter which avoids these objections and which gives a direct indication and record of drilling rates substantially contemporaneously with the drilling operation. In fact, the time of operation required to provide an indication of the drilling rate is only a few seconds.

These and other objects of this invention will be apparent from the following description and the drawings.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a partial sectional elevation of a suitable device for motion take-off from the drawworks hoisting drum cable at the wellhead;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the same device in partial section;

Fig. 3 is a section along the plane III-III of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of an adjustable gear drive and the meter element of this invention, adapted for use with a clock driven chart to indicate drilling rate versus time;

Fig. 5 is a section along the plane V-V of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is an electrical diagram illustrating the circuits used in operation of the meter integrating and indicating device;

Fig. '7 is a View of an alternating construction of the gear drive adapted to drive both the chart and the meter integrator and to provide a record of drilling rate versus depth; and

Figs. 8 and 9 are diagrammatic views in partial section illustrating methods for transmitting motion from the drilling rig to the meter.

The same numbers refer to the same elements throughout the several figures.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, a roller I having a. length equal to the width of the drawworks hoisting drum is mounted rotatably on a pair of arms 2 which pivot on brackets 3 anchored to the drawworks guard. The roller is forced automatically into engagement with the live drilling line 4 when drilling is started by means of a piston 5 operated by air supply from the drilling control panel. This automatic motion take-off device is described in greater detail in a copending application Serial No. 35,312 led July 26, 1948 by Robert R. Crookston. The roller I is automatically withdrawn from engagement with the live line by release of the air supply to plunger 5 when drilling is interrupted. The rotating motion of the roller I is transmitted through a worm gear 6 to a iiexible drive shaft 1.

Referring to Fig. 4, the flexible drive shaft 1 connects through an adjustable gear train 8, 9, I0 and I I and chain drive I2 to the integrator drive shaft I3. This shaft, supported by alignment bearings I4, drives the integrator and meter indicator units which include a clutch A, integrator elements B, a damping or holding device such as a solenoid operated brake C and an indicating pin assembly D, which parts will now be discussed in greater detail.

Rigidly mounted on shaft I3 is a solenoid I5 actuated through a double commutator I6 providing constant sliding contact with lines I1 and having a clutch face I8. A stationary shaft I9 is xed at its upper end in the wall of the meter housing 20. The driven element of the clutch consists of a clutch face element 2| rotatably positioned on the shaft I9 and having in its upper surface a circular slot 22 extending through about 300 which provides a lost motion coupling. This engages in its reversed position with a lug 23 on a spring housing 24 which is rigidly mounted by means of collar 25 to shaft I9, the spring 26 serving to lift and to return the driven clutch plate 2| to its initial position as fixed by the stop lug 23. As the driven plate 2| rotates forwardly, means are provided for the advancing contact of the lost motion coupling; rigidly mounted on the periphery of element 2| is a projecting arm 21 which strikes against a projection 28 on a cylindrical member 29 which is rotatably mounted on shaft I 9 and is rigidly connected to a pinion gear 30. This pinion drives gear 3| which is rigidly mounted on shaft 32, to which is attached the rate meter indicating and recording stylus 33. A spring 34 serves to return the stylus 33 to its zero position.

A damping or timed holding device is desirable to prevent return of the stylus completely to the zero position during the reset periods of the integrator when the clutch A is open, thereby permitting the stylus to return to zero position only when the motion observed actually reduces to zero. While this may be accomplished by a true damping arrangement to retard the motion of the stylus, as by a hydraulic connection on the stylus shaft provided with a slip or leak operated by the opening of the clutch to permit the stylus to retract slowly during that period, a simpler intermittent braking means has been arranged to accomplish a similar result. This is accomplished by the solenoid operated brake C. This includes a solenoid coil 35 having electrical leads 36 and a plunger 31 axially movable therein and which is driven upwardly against a fiat side surface of the gear 3| by actuation of the solenoid, thus providing a friction brake 43. This braking action is deliberately made much weaker than the driving action of the clutch A by adjustment of the relative strengths of the solenoids I and 35, permitting the clutch A to drive the gear 3| in spite of the braking action of brake 43.

Referring to Fig. 6, a clutch commutator 38 and a brake commutator 39 are both driven from any suitable time clock mechanism, not shown, which is preferably the same clock used to drive the chart roll 40 of the meter. The clutch commutator is provided with insulated inserts 4I which serve to deactivate the clutch solenoid I5 and to permit resetting of the integrating mechanism as will be explained below. The brake commutator 39 is similarly provided with insulator inserts 42 which serve to deactivate the brake solenoid for a short time in order to permit release of the stylus 33 just prior to the start of the shut-off period of the clutch commutator.

The operation of the device as adapted for use in drilling wells will now be described. As the well drill sinks in the earth the motion of the live line 4 is transferred through the roller I and exible drive 1 to integrator shaft I3 by connection through any suitable coupling to provide any desired ratio between the rotation of the shafts 1 and I3. For example, this drive may be transmitted through the gear assembly 8-II of Fig. 4 which provides an adjustable speed change transmission. For example, the first step of this transmission may consist of a 10 to 8 and a 1 to 1 two-speed transmission for use with either 8 or 10 drilling lines in the hoisting blocks. Alternate gear drives may also be provided for drilling strings of about 6 to 12 or more lines.

'Ihe second step of the transmission may consist of a 10 to 1 and a l to 1 two-speed unit to afford a choice of two drilling rate ranges, 0 to 10 feet per hour and 0 to 100 feet per hour which can be recorded on the chart which is provided with 100 directly readable divisions in the 6" chart employed.

It should be understood that these gear transmissions illustrated may be replaced by other or more simple type transmissions. For example, instead of using adjustable ratio shifting devices, a simple gear train may be used in which gears maybe replaced by hand to change the ratio, thereby reducing the cost of the equipment. Also, additional gears may be added as desired; for example, an external 10/1 worm gear adapter may be connected to the flexible cable 1 to provide a drilling rate range of 0 to 1000 feet per hour.

The output of this transmission is connected by the chain or other suitable drive I2 to the electrically operated mechanical integrator. The spring 34 attempts to return the stylus 33 to the zero position of the chart 40 which is possible during operation only in the short period that the brake solenoid 35 is deactivated. When the commutators 4I and 42 are driven at one revolution per minute, the integrating device operates four times per minute and integrates the drilling rate each l5 seconds. When the drilling rate is started up from a standing position, shaft I3 is rotated at a rate determined by the speed of the live line I and the selected gear transmission. With the solenoid I5 activated, the driven clutch member 2I in turn drives, through contact of lug 21 and shoulder 28, the pinion and gear 30 and 3| and the stylus 33 which advances across the face of chart 40 for ten seconds. At the end of ten seconds, the rotation of commutator 38 deactivates solenoid I5 for a period of ve seconds during which the released clutch face 2| is quickly returned to its zero position in the lost motion coupling by spring 26 driving it against shoulder 23. During this time the stylus 33 is held at its point of maximum advance by the brake 43. After this five-second interval, the solenoid I5 is again activated and starts driving the clutch face 2| for another period of ten seconds. Also during this ten-second interval, except a fraction of the 10th second, brake 43 is applied to gear I3. However, the brake applies less force than that exerted by the clutch so that if the drilling rate has increased during this second time cycle, the further rotation of element 2| will advance the stylus 33 to a higher reading.

The brake is released for a very short time during the latter part of the 10-second driving period of the clutch, and is again applied shortly before the clutch is opened. This intermittent release in brake 43 is for the purpose of permitting the stylus to return toward zero if the drilling rate has decreased. For example, assuming the drilling rate has decreased in the second cycle, the clutch face 2| will not have rotated as far as it would in the previous cycle and in this case release of the brake 43 permits the gear 3| to turn backward until the shoulder 28 engages the lug 21. The lugr 21 completes its forward drive for the ten-second period, advancing the stylus slightly beyond this point of contact, during which time and before the clutch A opens, the brake again engages to hold the stylus against further regression during the subsequent deactivation of solenoid I5 and resetting of clutch face 2|. Obviously, within practical limits of acceleration and deceleration phenomena, the integrating periods can be made oftener and for a larger proportion of the total time.

The record of the stylus in connection with the steady progress of the chart with time thus provides a record of the drilling rate versus time.

If it is desired to record the rate of drilling versus depth of the hole being drilled, the alternate gear drive illustrated in Fig. 7 may be used instead of the clock mechanism for driving the chart roll 40. In this case a clock mechanism is still used to drive the commutators 38 and 39 as described above in the operation of the integrator. The roller I, due to its automatic engagement with the live drilling line 4 only during periods of actual drilling, transmits a cumulative record of the progress of this line and thus of the drill. An additional gear train 45 is mounted at any suitable point in the drive from roller I prior to clutch A and is preferably located after the adjustable gear drive 8 to II in order to permit this train also to provide adjustment in chart scales for depth drilled. For example, the spur gear 46 on the end of shaft 41 may drive the gear train 45. The chart roll 40 is driven by this gear assembly 45 in order to cause the progress of the chart to be any desired ratio of the progress of the bit, for example, one chart line per foot at the lower ratio and one chart line per 10 feet at the higher ratio of the adjustable gear drive.

An important advantage of the device of this invention is that, whatever the stylus range used on the chart scale, the device reads and indicates reliably over the entire range from to 100%. Thus, with the 6" strip chart indexed with 100 lines, the drilling rate is directly readable to 1% accuracy all the way from 0 to 100% for any selected total range. A conventional tachometer arrangement, even if it could be provided with suitably changeable gear transmissions, is reliable at best only from 10 to 100% of its range, and is not reliable between 0 and 10% in any range. It also requires fundamentally 10 times as many gear changes for complete coverage as does the present device.

While this invention has been described with reference to the specific device illustrated in the drawings, it is obvious that many variations in the specific elements thereof may be made without departing from the spirit of this invention. The integrating and recording elements of this device may be used to record the rate of motion of any moving device, either in linear or rotary motion, by suitable connection to the driving shaft I3 of the clutch A.

For example, referring to Figs. 8 and 9 the transfer of the forward progress of the drill, or other element being measured, to the integrator B may be accomplished by any other suitable method such as by a string II4 or other connection to the hook or a pin III on the travelling block II3 of the drilling rig lill. The motion of this string may be transmitted to the drive shaft 'I of the gear assembly 8-II through a spring operated drum I I 5 carrying a coil of string which unwinds as the drill sinks in the earth, with suitable ratchet and pawl drive II'I from the drum to the gear train so that the drum may be reversed by its spring I IE as the bit is raised, without driving the shaft 1. Electrical connections for transmitting this motion may also be used, for example, by providing a pair of autosynchronous motors, one |08 driven, for example, by the rotating shaft IU'I of the first live line sheave IDB and the second |09, electrically connected to and synchronized with the first, may be connected to drive the gear assembly 8-II or integrator clutch driving shaft I3, in either case also preferably through a one-way ratchet and pawl drive II'I. Similarly, other types of transmissions involving mechanical or hydraulic or electrical connections or combinations thereof may be used to set or change the motion transmitted to the integrator B in any desired ratio, in place of the illustrated gear assembly 8 to II.

We claim:

1. In a motion rate meter, in combination, a means for transmitting forward motion of a moving element to advance an indicating stylus for a. predetermined time interval, comprising a driving clutch member actuated by forward movementV of said moving element, a driven clutch member freely rotatable through an arc of less than 360, a coupling element rotatable by said driven clutch member to advance the indicating stylus, and means for interrupting transmission of motion to said driven clutch member for a second time interval, including spring means for separating said driven member from the driving member, and for returning said driven clutch member to its initial position during said second time interval.

2. In a drilling rate meter, in combination, a motion take-off means operated only by forward progress of a drilling bit, a clutch comprising a driving clutch member rotated by said motion take-olf means and a driven clutch member, a stylus, a stylus drive connected for forward motion through a lost motion coupling with said driven clutch member, a solenoid adapted to operate said clutch, commutator controls for activating said solenoid, a clockwork means for intermittently actuating said commutator controls to open and close said clutch for predetermined intervals of time and a spring means for returning said driven clutch member to its initial position during the intervals when said clutch is open.

3. In a drilling rate meter, in combination, a motion take-off means operated only by forward progress of a drilling bit, a clutch comprising a driving clutch member rotated by said motion take-off means and a driven clutch member, a stylus, a stylus drive connected for forward motion through a lost motion coupling with said driven clutch member, a clockwork means for intermittently closing and opening said clutch for predetermined intervals of time, a spring means for returning said driven clutch member to its initial position during the intervals when said clutch is open, a friction brake on said stylus drive exerting a braking force sufficient to hold said stylus drive stationary during said period of clutch engagement, but insuincient to resist the forward drive of said clutch, intermittent disengaging means for said friction brake operable to free said stylus drive during a portion of the time during which said clutch is engaged, and spring means connected to said stylus drive for returning the stylus toward a zero position.

4. A device according to claim 1 comprising braking means for holding said stylus and said coupling element in fixed position during said second time interval.

5. A device according to claim 3 in which said intermittent disengaging means for said friction brake comprises a solenoid adapted to operate said brake and actuated by a commutator control driven by said clockwork means.

6. In a drilling rate meter, in combination, a motion take-off means operated only by forward progress of a live drilling line, a reducing transmission operated by said motion take-off means, a clutch comprising a driving clutch member rotated by said motion take-off means and a driven clutch member, spring means for returning said driven clutch member to an initial position when said clutch is opened, a lost motion drive associated with said driven clutch member and adapted to be driven only by forward motion thereof, a stylus drive rotatively supporting a stylus and arranged to be driven forward through said lost motion coupling, a spring connected to said stylus drive for returning the stylus to zero position, a friction brake exerting a suflicient force against said stylus drive to hold said stylus stationary against the action of the stylus return spring,

but insufficient to resist the forward drive of said clutch, a second solenoid actuating said friction brake, a commutator driven by said clockwork means and arranged to actuate said clutch solenoid for predetermined intervals of time for intermittently closing and opening said clutch, a second commutator driven by. said clockwork means and arranged to actuate said second brake solenoid for predetermined periods of time, thereby intermittently closing and releasing said brake, the contacts of both said solenoids being arranged to release said friction brake only during a portion of the time during which said clutch is engaged and to apply said friction brake during the remainder of the time cycle of clutch operation.

7. A device according to claim 6 comprising in addition a chart, a chart driving means for said chart operated by said clockwork means. the said chart engaging with said stylus whereby, in the operation of said device. there is provided a chart record of drilling rate per unit of time.

ROBERT R.. CROOKSTON. JAMES S. WATERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this lpatent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,569,062 Ziler Jan. 12, 1926 2,322,478 Scherbatskoy June 22, 1943 2,357,051 McLaine Aug. 29, 1944 2,357,520 Kahl Sept. 5, 1944 2,365,014 Silverman et al. Dec. 12, 1944 2,390,178 Rutherford Dec. 4, 1945 2,470,567 May May 17, 1949 

